Doctoral students from KTH in demand from trade and industry
A doctor’s degree from KTH opens up many exciting career routes, most of them in trade and industry. A survey was conducted among the doctoral students admitted to the research education during the years 2000-2001.
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of doctoral students graduating at KTH. About 30 years ago there were around 50 students that qualified each year; today there are a little more than 200. Most of them, approx. 75%, work in companies and organisations outside of the university world. This is what a postal and web survey shows which was sent to 535 people at the beginning of the year who had been admitted as doctoral students during 2000-2001. Two thirds of them today have positions where they lead others, for example project managers. One fifth of them are managers.
Those who did respond to the survey are in general pleased with KTH and also with their career following their research studies. This also applies to those who broke off their doctoral studies before graduation. Most of them are of the opinion that they have had major benefits from their doctoral studies in their work. Half of the respondents however wished they had more contact with trade and industry during the period they studied, both with regard to research and tutoring.
Doctoral students are recruited mainly from the civil engineering programmes in chemistry, technical physics and biotechnology at KTH. Of the doctoral students admitted 2000-2001, 40% came from KTH, 35% from other universities in Sweden and the rest from universities abroad. The proportion of foreign doctoral student is increasing steadily. This is positive in Folke Snickars’ opinion.
“It is good KTH attracts doctoral students from around the whole world. We compete on an international market and have a more qualified research education in relation to other countries’ universities of technology. Your research career develops further here compared to other places,” he says.
Håkan Soold